An Olympian Proposal
by Daughter of Pallas Athena
Summary: Warning. Contains spoilers to The Last Olympian. Percy and Annabeth have finally graduated from college, granting them a well deserved break. Wishing to propose to Annabeth, Percy seeks permission from Athena. Will she grant it?


**Welcome to my fifth work and second foray into Percy's point of view! It has taken awhile, but it is completed. Please review, it truly makes my day and encourages me to continue writing. Also, in the process of writing this work I learned something interesting I'd like to share in the case that some did not know it. Or I'll end up pointing out something that I should have noticed awhile ago, anyway. "Fiancée" refers to a woman while "fiancé" refers to a man. I probably seem like a complete idiot right now, it wouldn't be the first time. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Warning. Contains large, glaring spoilers to _The Last Olympian_. **

**I do not even own copies of the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ books. So how in the world could I own the series? The books are the sole property of Rick Riordan and Disney Hyperion. **

An Olympian Proposal

At the age of twelve, I killed the Minotaur. At the age of thirteen, I somewhat outsmarted a full grown Cyclops and retrieved the Golden Fleece. At the age of fourteen, I bore the curse of a titan, Atlas, bearing upon my shoulders the roof of the sky. At the age of fifteen, I entered the labyrinth of Daedalus, fought the Sphinx, and nearly died from an explosion within the bowels of Mt. St. Helen's. Hours before I turned sixteen, I fought against armies of monsters and defeated the Crooked One, Kronos.

Now, at the age of twenty-one, my greatest and most dangerous quest ever was about to unfold. My objective, to obtain the permission of Pallas Athena, goddess of warfare, strategy, and wisdom, to marry her daughter, Annabeth Chase. I would gladly face all of the horrors and tasks I had completed in my earlier years hundreds of times over, than to face the wrath of Athena.

_Ding_! The sound of the elevator doors opening broke me from my frightened thoughts. As always, the sight of Olympus, suspended above the Empire State Building in New York City, amazed me to no end. It was just so beautiful, the white marble and gold gilding (Annabeth almost never stopped talking about "molding" and "gold work", so naturally I had picked up a few architectural terms) glowing in the bright, noon sun. Looking upon the sprawling city as I walked across the path from the elevator, I couldn't help but to be struck with pride. My Wise Girl was the genius behind nearly every temple and statue I saw.

As I came closer to Athena's temple, which had been completely redesigned by Annabeth and the patron goddess of the temple after the events that took place five years ago, fear once again seized my heart. Being invulnerable, except for one spot, meant that I could not be harmed, but that didn't mean that Athena couldn't torture me. If she refused to grant her blessing, I didn't know what I would do.

My fear made it nearly impossible for me to admire the magnificent architecture around me. I stood in the center of the temple, before a golden statue of Athena, exactly where she had told me to stand during the Iris Message last week. Being the goddess of wisdom and what not, I was quite sure that she already knew what my reasons for asking an audience with her were.

"Hello, Perseus." I nearly jumped in surprise when I heard Athena's voice behind me. From the volume and my demigod senses, I located her to be only a few feet behind me. Slowly, I turned to face her. She wasn't ten feet tall and looked much like Annabeth, which I took to be a good sign. Bowing deeply, I returned her greeting.

"Hello, Lady Athena."

"You wished to have an audience with me today?" Her voice betrayed no emotion, she was completely impassive.

"Yes. I have come to ask something of you." I hoped dearly that I didn't seem rude. Offending the mother of the woman I loved was definitely not on my list of things to do. It was actually at the top of my list of things never to do or never to do again.

"I am listening." Still impassive. Way to stress a guy out.

"Lady Athena, I have come to ask permission to marry your daughter, Annabeth Chase." Her eyes flashed with some emotion, but before I could identify it, it was gone.

"Do you have a ring?" Well…it wasn't a no. My fingers wrapped around the ring in my pocket, the same pocket in which Riptide was located.

"Yes, ma'am." I assumed that she wanted to see it, but voicing assumptions when referring to a god was not exactly a brilliant idea.

"May I see it?" Now she seems amused. That's good…right? I pulled the celestial bronze ring from my pocket and offered it to the goddess. She took it from my fingers and held it close to her face, inspecting it. I hope that her representation on the ring would soften her a bit.

The ring was a rather slim band with three stones, a sea emerald that my father gave me, a diamond that came from my grandmother's wedding ring, and a strange grey stone that Hermes found. My mother had told me that each stone was about one carat and when I was worried that it was not enough, she reassured me that it would be fine. On one side of the engagement band, right below the sea emerald, a small trident was engraved. A small owl was inscribed beneath the grey stone.

Hephaestus himself forged the ring and implemented a special feature that I had designed. When the trident and owl were both held for a moment with a bit of force, the ring became a shield which was inscribed with an owl carrying a trident in its talons. Much like the time when I asked my cousin to forge the Olympian Architect Owl, I spent several hours, twenty three to be exact, setting traps to capture Ares and Aphrodite.

"This is a rather unique ring. I assume that it was forged by my brother?" Athena's voice brought me from my thoughts.

"Yes ma'am."

"Hmm…how exactly do you plan to propose to my daughter." She spoke as she returned the ring. I could feel blood rushing to my ears. The subject I was about to broach could devastate my chances of receiving her permission, but I trudged on anyway.

"Well, I wish to take Annabeth on a trip to Greece. She's always dreamed of visiting all of the wonders there. Then…I want to propose to her on the Acropolis of Athens…in your temple." After speaking, I held my breath. This was the breaking point. Once again, Athena's expression was unreadable. She remained silent for several agonizing minutes.

"Why? Why do you wish this?" The question startled me and it took me several seconds to create coherent thoughts.

"My father disgraced you in that temple…I know that what he did can never be forgiven or forgotten, but maybe a happier, honorable deed by a son can lessen the pain of such a disgrace. I…I know you do not approve of me and your daughter marrying a 'Spawn of the Sea' is probably the worst possible thing to happen in your view….but…I love Annabeth. I'll protect her, despite the fact that she's nearly unbeatable when she has a dagger in her hand….and…" I trailed off when Athena raised a hand, commanding silence.

"You are wrong, Perseus. I do approve of you. In the years before and following the defeat of Kronos, you have shown great bravery, strength….and loyalty. I do agree with you on the matter of what your father did. I would find it to be a great triumph for over him if you would propose to my daughter within my temple. That gesture means great respect."

"I, Pallas Athena, grant you, Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, permission to marry my daughter, Annabeth Chase." My heart nearly stopped when she spoke. Then, I performed the most impulsive action to be ever taken by a person diagnosed with ADHD. I hugged Athena. She stiffened instantly, then after a few awkward moments, she returned the embrace. After a few seconds, we both drew back with faint blushes.

"Ahem…on to another matter. How exactly do you plan to travel to Greece?"

"Last week, Lord Zeus granted me safe passage to and from Greece, if you gave your blessing of course."

"What about hotels and other such things that require future planning?"

"Uhhh…I have two rooms reserved at a hotel in Athens…" Her brows arched at my confession.

"So you already have everything in line, before my permission was granted?"

"Y-yes ma'am. I wanted to be able to execute my plan as soon as possible, preferably on the summer week that Annabeth has her break from her duties as an architect."

"Next week, you mean?"

"Yes."

"Hmm…well…I am highly interested in how your plan turns out. Before I bid you leave, I have one more question. Have you received permission from the other parents involved?"

"Yes."

"Good. Farewell, Perseus." I turned and closed my eyes as she revealed her immortal form and vanished. Idly I wondered where she went considering that we had been speaking on Olympus. Clutching the ring within my pocket, I departed the temple and began the trek through Olympus, whistling a joyous Athenian hymn the whole way.

**The next week, within the apartment Annabeth and I share…**

"Percy! Really? We're going to Athens? How?" Annabeth's excited tone excited me as well, I just hoped that she would be just as excited when I proposed.

"Whoa. One question at a time, Wise Girl. Yes, we're really going to Athens. I've been saving up my salary as a life guard for awhile and my mom and Paul decided that we deserve a break, so they chipped in. They're right; we haven't really had a true break. Right after the defeat of Kronos we had to finish high school, and then we were both swamped with work in college. Now that we've graduated, we have some true spare time." Blood rushed to my ears and face, it was rather embarrassing admitting that I needed my parents' help to pay for the trip, though my mother did say that their help was more of a gift for everything Annabeth and I sacrificed.

"Oh, I don't know how I am going to ever thank your parents enough. Wait a second, how can we fly to Athens? Lord Zeus would blast you out of the sky!" I took much effort on my part not to chuckle at her unneeded, worried expression.

"Zeus has granted me safe passage to and from Athens." I was completely caught off guard when Annabeth tackled me in a bone crushing hug.

"You've really thought all of this through, haven't you?"

"I like to think so."

"That's good enough for me. What flight are these tickets for?" Annabeth was basically vibrating in excitement as she inspected the tickets in her hands, I'm sure that with her enthusiasm her dyslexia was acting up.

"The passes are for a four o'clock flight today." Her head snapped up to look at me so fast that I was afraid that I was going to get whiplash just by watching her.

"Tonight? I haven't had time to pack and its almost three! Come on Seaweed Brain, you're going to help me." I followed her into her bedroom and began picking out shirts and things for her to wear. The process went much more smoothly because she was folding the clothing I handed her. I can't fold clothing to save my life.

"Hmm…not too bad, Seaweed Brain. I didn't know you had fashion sense."

"Haha. Very funny."

"Have you packed your suitcase?"

"Yep. We're all ready to go." I was quite proud of the fact that I had remembered to do so. We were half way out the door ten minutes later (I Iris messaged my mom to let her know that we were leaving) when Annabeth dashed back inside, calling out behind her.

"We forgot ambrosia and nectar!"

"No, you did. I have enough for both of us in my suitcase." A few minutes later, Annabeth reappeared. She took her suitcase from my grasp and planted a kiss on my lips.

"You just keep impressing me, Seaweed Brain."

The drive from the apartment to JFK was surprisingly uneventful. I was expecting to at least be attacked by a dracaena, but maybe they just like to hang out in the subway tunnels. On my eighteenth birthday, my mother had bought me an onyx, (Annabeth and I argued over whether or not the car was black or onyx, she won of course) 2003 Mazda Tribute. It was decided that I needed a tank of an SUV in case of monster attacks, and to haul around my demigod friends. However, I was not going to leave my car at the airport for a week, so we rode in a taxi.

We only had to wait fifteen minutes for our direct flight from New York to Athens. The flight was estimated to take nine and a half hours, so Annabeth and I settled into seats for a very pleasant nap. I would be able to sleep peacefully because I had acquired an oath on the River Styx from Zeus not to blast me from the sky. Nine hours and fifteen minutes later, I awoke to the sound of the pilot announcing our arrival to Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport.

"Annabeth, we're about to land." I whispered in her ear and gently shifted my shoulder, which her head was resting on. In pained me to wake her up, she looked so beautiful sleeping, not as stunning as when her stormy eyes were open, but beautiful none the less. After a few moments, she stretched and opened her eyes.

From the airport, we took another taxi to the Athens Gate Hotel. After checking in, Annabeth and I split into our separate rooms, which were right next to each other. Finding the rooms had been a hassle because both of us were extremely excited to be in Greece, which caused our dyslexia to act up more than usual. It took fifteen minutes, but we finally were able to decipher the numbers on the plaques beside each door.

Annabeth and I had both pledged not to unpack just in case of a monster attack. I was praying to any god that would hear to allow just one monster-free week. We were no longer in the West, which hopefully would dim the chances of any monster attacks, however, we were deep in the birth place of all monsters that plague demigods.

After we were settled we went out to breakfast as it was now nine o'clock a.m. Last week, I put aside some money and had it converted to Euros. It felt strange eating breakfast when back in New York it was two in the morning. Annabeth wanted to immediately head off to the Parthenon, but I didn't have the ring with me nor was I ready to propose. As subtly as I could, I persuaded Annabeth that we should head to the place where the Statue of Zeus once stood , so I could place an offering for allowing me safe passage.

Thank the gods that my plan worked. Before leaving Athens in a rental car, I purchased a small replica of the Statue of Zeus. We drove outside Athens to Olympia, where the remains of the once great temple stand. The whole way Annabeth told me of the history of the statue and the temple. I blocked most of her architectural spiel, but I did manage to catch the part about the fire that destroyed the temple after the statue had been moved and the fire that finally destroyed the statue while it was house in Constantinople.

When we reached the spot, it was deserted. Annabeth guided me through the rubble to where she believed the statue originally stood. I placed the small replica and three gold drachmas in the place she recommended and offered up a small prayer. Annabeth kneeled beside me and prayed as well. At that moment, I felt a strange feeling of homecoming. It just felt right to be kneeling before what was once the Statue of Zeus.

The more I thought about it, I realized that I was home. Not in the sense of how my apartment felt, but in the sense similar to how being at Camp Half-Blood felt. I belonged in Greece, among the ruins and reminders of the glorious past. I was Greek in every way, more so than the people born and raised in Greece in this age. They didn't kneel and pray before the great temples, they visited them and thought about how amazing their country's past was, of how comical it was that their ancestors had created such fantastic stories and myths to explain the unexplained.

Suddenly, I was overcome with anger. In Greece, the birthplace of the gods, there was no faith. Here, they were faded memories of a golden age, no longer revered as they were in ancient times. Thousands of miles away, true Greeks dwelled while the people of Greece flaunted their past though they carried no faith nor did they truly understand it.

I glanced over at Annabeth, her eyes filled with fury. Apparently our thoughts were aligned. She turned and faced me as well and we shared an understanding, an epiphany. This before us and all around us were what the gods suffered. The pain of being forgotten in one's true home must be endless torture.

Without a word, we stood and departed from the ruins. Our silence continued as we drove back into Athens and to the hotel. It was now noon, but neither of us were very hungry. Instead, we sat on the bed in my room in silence, each of us lost in our thoughts. My arms were wrapped around Annabeth as she sat with her back against my chest. I do not know how long we sat there, mourning for the death of the gods in Greece. My thoughts were only broken when Annabeth suddenly straightened and turned around in my grasp.

"Temples." She spoke as if I should know exactly what she's thinking. I didn't of course.

"Huh?" She rolled her eyes at me and continued, as if speaking to a child.

"We should travel to the major temples in Greece and make offerings to the gods. We cannot inspire faith in this country, but maybe offerings at each temple could set an example for the Greeks and tourists." Why didn't I think of that?

"Sounds great, but there are not temples standing to every god and goddess. Don't you think that certain gods may get a little jealous if they are not given an offering?"

"That's very true, but I have a plan to compensate that. In ancient times, many gods and goddesses were given simple offerings because of what they represent. At dinner every night, we can have a glass of wine and give an offering of wine for Lord Dionysus. We can give an offering of bread at every meal for Lady Demeter."

"Okay then. What temples do you want to visit?"

"The Parthenon and the temple at Delphi. I have ideas as to how to honor the other gods and goddesses."

"Then where to first?"

"Well, why don't we just visit a temple every other day while giving offerings at every meal and such. I still wish to explore everything that Athens as to offer." I nodded my agreement to her plan and Operation Make the Gods Feel Better was commenced.

For the rest of the day and the next, we explored the city. We sampled Greek meals, which we absolutely adored, no surprise there. We visited several museums and avoided tours. We didn't need some obnoxious person telling us lies and misconstrued stories about our family.

Just as planned, we made offerings to every god during the course of our vacation. We offered wine to Dionysus and bread to Demeter. One day, in the forest, we found an injured deer and for three hours we comforted it and eased into death which hopefully earned us points with Artemis and Hades. At high noon on the same day, we played music, poorly, and recited haikus in the temple at Delphi to appease Apollo. Before a statue of Aphrodite we shared a kiss and we both swore that we heard Aphrodite's tinkling giggle. In what was once Sparta, Annabeth and I dueled. We each won once and praised Ares and Nike for granting us our victories. One windy night, we made a fire on the beach and sacrificed portions of our food to Poseidon and Hestia.

The only two goddesses left were Hera and Athena, who were both stressing Annabeth out. She knew that her offering to her mother would take place in the Parthenon, but she wasn't sure what to offer. She didn't know that I planned to give an offering of sorts to both Athena and Hera in the temple. With the last day of our vacation upon us, I convinced Annabeth that though she didn't have an offering, it was time to visit the reason why she had for so long desired to visit Athens.

We visited the temple at dusk, escaping the noon day rush at the wonder. When we first arrived at the temple we didn't speak and instead allowed the voices from the ancient past to draw us in, just like they did when we visited the other temples. After a half hour of exploring the beautiful, white marble pillars, the last of the tourists drifted away and Annabeth and I were alone.

Mustering up all the courage I had, I slowly approached Annabeth, my fingers closed around the ring in my pocket. I had never thought to put it in a box. Gently, I took her arm and guided her over to the middle of the large atrium, where the grand statue of Athena once stood. She watched me with a questioning expression when I drew back and pulled my fist from my pocket. Taking a deep breath, I kneeled before her and unclenched my fist, revealing the ring.

"Annabeth, you are the reason that I am still alive. You've saved life countless times. We have faced the Underworld, numerous monsters, and the titan lord Kronos. I'd go through all of the quests and dangers we've faced ten times over just to relive them with you. Annabeth Chase, will you marry me?" Her expression had changed from confusion, to shock, and to…anger? What did I miss? I was brought from my thoughts when I heard the word I feared most.

"No." It came from Annabeth's throat as if it were a growl. My heart stopped and I felt as if I was bearing the sky again. I couldn't speak as I watched Annabeth walk past me, I could only turn to watch her walk toward the hydra. Wait, hydra? Instantly my battle instincts kicked in, but they were unneeded. Apparently torches were lit at night within the temple or Annabeth just had one in her travel pack because one Hydra head was rolling away while the neck was smoking.

The smell of burnt hydra flesh permeated the room as the neck continued to smolder, then moments later the hydra with its only head decapitated, exploded in a shower of golden dust. Annabeth turned around with a stern expression upon her face, wielding her dagger. I was still frozen, kneeling on the floor. Her gaze was penetrating, but after a few moments, the fire in her stormy eyes faded, replaced with…joy?

"Oh, Percy!" She sheathed her knife as she dashed across the marble floor. When she reached me, she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me with intense passion. Her obvious exuberance and her kiss completely halted any coherent thoughts within my mind. After a few moments she drew back and studied my confused face. "Percy, is there something wrong?"

"Uhh…I'm confused." She cracked a smile and probably struggled to keep from making a sarcastic remark.

"Why?" She seemed as if she wanted to marry me, but not three minutes ago, she said no. I was afraid to confess the reason for my confusion, but I did despite my fear.

"Uh…earlier you said…no." My voice came out in a hoarse whisper. It nearly killed me to think about, saying it was nearly impossible. She responded with a horrified look and gave me her signature bone crushing hug. When she pulled back, she spoke with a slightly amused tone.

"Seaweed Brain, I said no because the hydra was ruining what would have been the most perfect proposal. Percy, I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you." I could feel my lips drawing into a huge grin. I was officially the happiest man on earth. She returned my smile and gently reached between us and brought my hand up, the ring upon my palm. She gasped when she saw it and when I looked at her face, I saw tears welling.

"It's beautiful, Percy." I decided against voicing a very corny response of "Not as beautiful as you." Instead, I gently took her left hand and gazing into her stormy grey eyes, I slid the ring on to her finger. I squeezed her hand and released it. She turned the ring this way and that, inspecting it. Tears began to fall when she noticed the engravings of the owl and the trident.

"It's not just a ring. Press a bit on the engravings." She did as I instructed and gasped when the shield appeared.

"Percy, it's perfect." After retracting the shield, she once again wrapped her arms around me. We shared a rather passionate kiss in the middle of the Parthenon, the only light coming from the torch in Annabeth's right hand. Much too soon, we broke for air.

"The offerings are finished." It was Annabeth's turn to be confused. For her benefit, I explained.

"Last week, I spoke with your mother, asking her permission. She granted it along with my request to propose within her temple. I…I wanted this to be a honorable reminder of the temple that would cover over what my father did. Lady Hera also granted her blessing, despite her feelings toward us, she finds it a great honor to the entire Olympian family that such 'great heroes of the Second Titan War' have found love." She nodded with understanding and kissed me once more. When she drew back, I was close to collapsing. She laughed at me and took my hand, dragging me from the temple. I sent a silent prayer of thanks to Athena and Hera before we departed the Acropolis.

After sharing a small meal of Tzatziki (basically a cucumber dip which is served with pita bread) and Kokoretsi (lamb liver). Annebeth drove us back to the hotel and nearly ran through the hotel back to our rooms, dragging me by the hand the whole way. When we reached our adjacent rooms, she whirled around and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Percy…I don't want to leave you just yet…could I stay with you tonight?" I froze. Her mother would kill me, even if nothing happened, but I didn't have the heart to refuse her. I really doubted that anything would happen. We would wait until the wedding.

"Uh…sure." She gave a demure smile and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips. I used my hotel key card to unlock the door of my room while she quickly went to gather her things. When she returned, we settled into bed, my arms around her waist and her hand resting upon mine. I fell asleep with a smile on my face knowing that Annabeth was officially my fiancée.

The next morning we checked out and said goodbye to Greece. The vacation had been perfect except for the hydra attack. Annabeth and I were closer than ever before and she had agreed to become my wife. I only enjoyed three weeks of peace with Annabeth in our apartment after our trip. All Hades broke loose as the grueling, torturous process of wedding planning began. Everything is harder when you're a half blood.


End file.
